keep your pigs $fwqrz uhjlvwhu comfortable as...

Issue 13 Summer 2017/2018

AUSTRALIAN PORK LIMITED 1 | www.australianpork.com.au | [email protected] | Toll Free 1800 789 099

Don’t miss the Pan Pacific Pork

Expo in 2018

Keep your pigs comfortable as temperatures rise

Act now: register with PigPass

AUSTRALIAN PORK LIMITED 2 | www.australianpork.com.au | [email protected] | Toll Free 1800 789 099 3AUSTRALIAN PORK LIMITED | www.australianpork.com.au | [email protected] | Toll Free 1800 789 099

Issue 13 Summer 2017/2018Pigs N' Mud Pigs N' MudSummer 2017/2018 Issue 13

In this Issue

About UsKnow your APL Staff

Australian Pork Limited (APL) is a unique rural industry service body for the Australian pork in-dustry. It is a producer-owned company delivering integrated services that enhance the viability of Australia’s pig producers. The organisation aims to enhance opportunities for the sustainable growth of the Australian pork industry by delivering inte-grated marketing, innovation and policy services along the pork industry supply chain. APL pursues opportunities for the industry at both the domestic and international level.

3 Last chance for pigs without a pass

4 Summer lovin’: how to keep pigs comfortable as temperatures rise

6 Changes to the temporary skilled migration program a cause for concern for our industry

7 Save the date: Pan Pacific Pork Expo 2018

8 Christmas recipe: festive baked ham

Welcome to the Summer edition of Pigs N’ Mud, Australian Pork Limited’s (APL) newsletter for the small producer.

Rachel Blake, Events and Membership Executive

Share your pig farming stories with us by contacting APL’s Membership and Communication Services Executive, Elzet Vermeulen on 02 6270 8814 or at [email protected]

For information about APL Membership, call Rachel Blake on 02 6270 8807 or visit the APL website at www.australianpork.com.au/members.

Last chance for pigs without a pass

I joined APL this year, and I am a huge AFL fan and getting out in nature is a big part of my life. With a Bachelor of Tourism Management and Sport Man-agement combined with event intern-ships and experience, organising events is something I am passionate about.

Some of the events I am responsible for organising include the biannual Delegates Forum, the Annual General Meeting and the biennial Pan Pacific Pork Expo (PPPE), taking place next year in May (turn to page 7 for more information).

A big part of my role is assisting pro-ducers to become APL members, as well as creating relationships with new and current members. I believe this is important as it allows for a two-way communication between APL and producers. If you know a producer who would like to join, then please put them in touch with me – I am here to help. Last but not least, I also answer the PigPass Helpdesk phone line, along with some of my other colleagues.

If you need assistance with your mem-bership or PigPass you can contact me at [email protected] or on 02 6270 8807.

The silly season is upon us and Aus-tralian Pork Limited is ramping up its Christmas ham and pork activity.

General Manager of Marketing, Peter Haydon, said December was an important month for pork con-sumption.

“Pork is the protein of choice for many festive feasts, with bone-in hams and crackle-crusted roasts taking pride of place,” he said.

“Behind the scenes, we’ve been working with processors and retail-ers to ensure they’re ready. We’ve also been working with media out-lets to showcase Aussie hams and pork roasts in Christmas editions.

“Now, we’re entering the next phase of consumer activity, with the Australian PorkMark Ham Awards

and Christmas roasts advertising.”

The Ham Award winners will be announced on 27 November in Sydney at a Christmas Ham Season launch, with media invited to attend the national award presentation and meet the winners.

The focus will shift to roasts on

10 December, with the start of Christmas roasts advertising.

For Christmas recipe inspiration and news on the Australian PorkMark Ham Awards, visit www.pork.com.au.

Time is running out for pig owners who haven’t registered with PigPass. From 1 February 2018, it will be mandatory for all pig owners, big or small, to report the movements of their pigs using PigPass.

PigPass is a traceability system that can be used to try to reduce the im-pact of a disease outbreak or food safety issue. PigPass links pigs to a property of origin using a Property

Identification Code (PIC),

registered pig identi-fication (ear tags or tattoos),

and Pig-Pass move-

ment documentation.

Failure to meet the reporting requirements from February next year, may result in a penalty notice.Deb Kerr, General Manager Policy, Australian Pork Limited says many pig owners are already using PigPass in preparation for the February deadline.

“All pig owners need to be regis-tered and using PigPass in the next month. Whether you have one pig, 10 pigs, a pet pig or a Christmas pig, you need to report their move-ments via PigPass,” Ms Kerr said.

When transporting pigs off the property, owners must complete a PigPass NVD that will accompany the pigs on their journey. The new owner of the pigs, must report the

movement via PigPass within two days, ensuring all information has been completed in full, including the destination PIC.

The receiver must also ‘close the loop’ online using the originating sender’s serial number from the PigPass. If the receiver is an abattoir, they must ‘close the loop’ within 48 hours of receiving the pigs.

PigPass helps to ensure that the transport of pigs meets agreed industry and government standards relating to food safety, animal dis-ease control and animal welfare.

If you have any questions about PigPass, your reporting obligations or how to use the system, visit www.pigpass.com.au or call Australian Pork Limited on 1800 001458.

It’s just not Christmas without Aussie pork

Turn to page 8 for your Festive baked ham recipe.



Caring for pigs in summer can be challenging, with the combination of heat and increased day-length both affecting comfort.

Australian Pork Limited Manager, Production Stewardship, Dr Pat Mitchell, said pigs needed to be supported to stay in their Thermal Comfort Zone.

“The Thermal Comfort Zone is the temperature range in which the pig feels most comfortable,” Dr Mitchell said.

“How comfortable they feel is affected by a number of factors. Interactions between air tempera-ture, skin wetness, air movement, humidity, floor type, breed and the amount and composition of diets all affect comfort. Their lower critical temperature (LCT) and evaporative critical temperature (ECT) are the two extremes and vary according to environmental interactions.”

Dr Mitchell said watching pigs would give a good indication of how they-were coping with their environment.

“Pigs change their behaviour when they feel hot or cold,” Dr Mitchell said.

“If air temperature falls, pigs feel cold and they will huddle and change

Summer lovin’: how to keep pigs posture to conserve heat. They’ll also use more of their feed to gen-erate body heat and less for growth and production, meaning pigs will be leaner.

“As air temperature rises above the LCT, but still in the Thermal Com-fort Zone, pigs can maintain their body temperature by a number of methods. For example, if the floor is cooler than the air, they may change position so more of their skin is in contact with the floor. They may reduce contact with other pigs, plus swallow, splash and increase their water consumption.”

Water is important as temperatures rise. “You’ll notice that in high tem-peratures, pigs are rarely dry,” Dr Mitchell said.

“They deliberately wet themselves to cool the skin through evapora-tion with drinking water, saliva, dung and urine. As air temperature rises to the upper limit of the comfort zone, a pig starts to pant to increase the evaporative heat loss from its lungs. This occurs at the ECT. A good measure of this point is the pig panting at around 50 to 60 breaths per minute.”

While pigs can lose more heat by increasing their respiration rate or panting, this is inefficient compared

to other animals, such as dogs.

“As air temperature rises above the ETC, the pig pants faster, its body temperature increases and it re-duces feed intake resulting in lower growth rates,” Dr Mitchell said.

of stockmanship is required to pro-vide the correct temperature,” Dr Mitchell said.

“For example, a pig may be too cold at 25 degrees in a strong breeze, but too hot if the air is slow-moving and humid. Even at high temperatures, pigs can feel comfortable when good ventilation is combined with wallows or spray or drip cooling.”

Dr Mitchell said rather than using a maximum/minimum thermometer to monitor pigs’ comfort, observa-tion of behaviour was the key.

“If pigs huddle together or shiver, they are obviously too cold,” she said.

“If their dunging behaviour changes, causing dirty areas or they’re lying scattered across the floor panting, the pigs are suffering from high tem-

peratures. Data loggers can measure daily temperature extremes, tracing hourly temperatures for periods of days or weeks and allowing you to download information and see what is happening. Regular observations of pig comfort are necessary.”

Keeping pigs comfortable is im-portant for their welfare, but it also helps with your overall productivity.

“If pigs are too cold, they eat more feed to maintain their body tem-perature, but it’s not transformed to growth and condition. If they’re too hot, they will reduce their food intake, also affecting growth and condition,” Dr Mitchell said.

“A happy, healthy pig is what we all want, so keeping a close eye on their environment and keeping them in their Thermal Comfort Zone helps deliver that.”

comfortable as temperatures riseFACT BOX:

Pig’s age Temperature

Suckers (birth–weaners)

35–38°C (birth– 5 days)

28–30°C (5 days– weaning)

Weaners (weaning–8 weeks) 30–22°C

Growers/Finishers 20–24°C

Dry sows/Boars 18–24°C

Lactating sows 18–22°C

Practical air temperature ranges between LCT and ECT

Table source: “Plan it Build It” 1994Article source: APL Seasonal Infertility booklet; “Preparing for the summer months - Seasonal Infertility and beyond”

Lower Critical Tempera-ture: when pigs feel cold, they will huddle and change posture to conserve heat. More of the food eaten is used to generate body heat, leaving less ener-gy available for growth and production. There will be less body fat deposited and pigs will be leaner.

Thermal Comfort Zone: the temperature range in which the pig is most comfortable. Behaviour will change to adapt as temperature rises above LCT but within this range.

Evaporative Critical Temperature: the upper limit of the pig’s com-fort zone.

Upper Critical Tempera-ture: the pig has no further mecha-nisms left to control its rising body temperature. This is a danger zone.

‘‘ Pigs change their

behaviour when they

feel hot or cold

‘‘

“If air temperature rises further, a temperature is reached where the pig’s evaporative heat loss from lungs and skin is greatest.

“It has no further mechanisms left to control its rising body tempera-ture. This is called the Upper Crit-ical Temperature. Air temperature above the UCT causes a dramatic rise in body temperature, often followed by death.”

The age and stage of the pig is also important in this comfort equation.

“Piglets, lactating sows, weaners and other pigs have different needs,” Dr Mitchell said.

“For example, the body tempera-ture of piglets falls rapidly after birth, but should recover within half an hour. Young pigs are very suscep-tible to cold and draught because they have thin skin, sparse hair coverage and very little fat.

“By contrast, a lactating sow has much higher heat production. The difference in needs can only be met by providing a farrowing area and straw so that the sow is kept within its Thermal Comfort Zone, while the bedding protects the piglets.”

So what can producers and staff do to keep pigs comfortable?

“For any class of pig, a high degree



Selling and buying pigs in AustraliaBiosecurity is an important issue in all types of pig production, indoor and outdoor. All produc-ers have a role to play in ensuring the integrity and exotic disease free status of the Australian pork industry.

When you are selling (or buying) pigs, it becomes a great way to share information about the pig industry and swap helpful tips that can protect the pig industry in Australia.

If you are selling to another producer:• check that they understand

their obligations when own-ing or allowing pigs on their property. If you are selling to someone entering the

pork industry for the first time they may not understand the current legal requirements for owning pigs

• remind them that all producers who have a pig on their prop-erty must have a PIC. For more information on Pig Identifica-tion, visit pigpass.com.au

• let them know what they can feed pigs, inform them of the risks of swill feeding and remind them that swill feeding is illegal

• make sure you provide them with a PigPass NVD and urge them to register for PigPass and report the movement. It is also a good idea to point them in the direction of the PigPass and Australian Pork websites. On there they can find infor-mation about the pork industry

and publications such as the Pigs N’ Mud newsletter, which is targeted for small produc-ers.

If you are selling a pig as pet, let the person know that there is no such thing as a true mini pig in Australia. Selective breeding can mean pigs stay smaller than the average commercial pig, but they will not be miniature.

As a producer selling a pig, you are in a unique position to provide trusted information to someone who may have a limited understating of the pork industry. It is a great opportunity to en-sure that everyone understands their role in safeguarding our healthy pig herd.

Pork lovers getting ribbed off

‘Paddock to plate’ – promotion of our pigs in schools resources

Pork ribs are one of the few dining experiences where it’s perfectly acceptable to ditch the cutlery and get stuck in.

Unfortunately, some unsuspecting customers have been served up ultra-heat treated (UHT) ribs from Europe with a shelf life of up to two years.

A new Australian Pork Limited campaign asks consumers ‘are you getting ribbed off?’ The digital campaign, launched at the end of October, seeks to raise consumer awareness of imports, plus help them identify Aussie ribs and the restaurants serving them.

This campaign is a new approach for APL Marketing’s Australian program,

Following the Government’s an-nouncement of changes to the tem-porary skilled migration program in April this year, APL has been keenly tracking the implications for pro-ducers and how we can minimise the impact. The implication of most concern to producers is the remov-al of eligibility for 457 visa holders in our industry to seek permanent resident visas. This move will have serious consequences for many producers’ ability to maintain a stable, long-term skilled workforce. It is especially damaging for smaller producers, who may rely on one or two skilled workers from overseas. The removal of key staff can devas-tate any business. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection has announced it will establish a list of special regional occupations that will retain eligibil-ity for permanent residency under the new system. APL is working to ensure that occupations relevant

A professional development day to engage with teachers from the Inner West, Eastern and Southern Catholic Education offices was held on Wednesday 25 October at Syd-ney Showground. The event target-ed urban school teachers who are needing resources in agriculture to help their students understand the concept of ‘paddock to plate’.

Australian Pork Limited’s educa-tional resources aim to engage and

challenge primary and secondary students to think about where their food comes from, the resources and management re-quired to raise and care for pigs, how we can produce sustainable food and how to cook pork.

These resources are well re-ceived and distributed to 18 ad-ditional schools across NSW and continue to be distributed across Australia.

Urban school teachers attending the professional development day.

Changes to the temporary skilled migration program a cause for concern for our industry

to our industry are not left off the list. We are also looking to protect the integrity of the Pork Industry Labour Agreement, which cur-rently incorporates a pathway to permanency. APL is working on a comprehensive submission that will be provided to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and to relevant ministers to support our positions. We encourage producers to ap-proach their local Member of Parlia-ment regarding the changes to the 457 visa program. APL will develop a template letter that can be sent by producers to their local member, as well as some key talking points they can use in a face-to-face meeting. Producers will be encouraged to talk about their individual circum-stances. Keep an eye on the APL Communique for information about this campaign.

APL completed a producer survey

covering labour and skilled migration issues to better understand the role of skilled workers from overseas in our industry. We received 51 re- sponses. The results are underpin-ning our current efforts, and we are still welcoming any comments from producers. If you would like to help, please get in touch with Andrew Robertson, Senior Policy Analyst at [email protected] or on 02 6270 8888. APL has been speaking to a num-ber of producers that have been experiencing delays or difficulties with visas since the announcement of changes to the 457 program in April 2017. We understand the Department is taking a harder and sometimes arbitrary line on applica-tions. We encourage all producers currently navigating the visa system to pay careful attention to accura-cy in paperwork. Again, if you are experiencing difficulties, please let us know.

for a few reasons. It was developed by APL with its media and creative agencies, using bespoke digital tar-geting to rib-loving consumers. It also has a new content approach, which is quite different from APL’s previous activities, including that

around imported ham and bacon.

The campaign is set to run for eight weeks, with targeted online banner advertising, a website and adver-torial on News Limited websites nationally.

The website, www.dontgetribbedoff.com.au, contains information for both consumers and chefs, with in-formation about the issue, reactions to the ultra-heat-treated ribs and information about where people can enjoy 100% Australian pork ribs.

For more information, please contact APL Senior Brand Manager, Julia Unwin at [email protected] or General Manager Market-ing, Peter Haydon at [email protected].

30 & 31 May 2018Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition

Centre, Broadbeach QLD

Theme: Driving efficiency together

Attendance assistance packages available for APL producer members. If you are not already a member

contact Rachel at APL now.

Contact Rachel Blake for more information on 02 6270 8807 /

[email protected] or visit www.pppe.com.au

AUSTRALIAN PORK LIMITED 8 | www.australianpork.com.au | [email protected] | Toll Free 1800 789 099

Issue 13 Summer 2017/2018Pigs N' Mud

Festive baked ham

Cooking time:

Serves:

12Prep

aration time:10

minutes

Ingredients:1 x 3–4kg double smoked half leg ham2 litres clear apple juice3 cinnamon sticks

1 Using a small sharp knife carefully lift on side of the ham rind. Using your finger tips gently separate the rind from the fat in one piece.

2 Cut a shallow diamond or decorative pattern in the fat.

3 Place the leg ham into a large baking dish and pour over the apple juice.

4 Place the ham into the pre- heated oven and bake for 40–50 minutes, basting occa-sionally with apple juice until ham is golden brown.

5 Remove the ham from the oven and allow ham to rest in the pan for 20 minutes prior to serving.

6 To serve: tie the hock with a little fabric for easy carving. Place ham onto the serving board and brush with a little cooking liquid. Serve with cranberry sauce, fennel and pomegranate salad and crusty fresh baked rolls. Alterna-tively this recipe can also be served with roasted vegeta-bles and all the trimmings.

To serve:Cranberry sauceFennel, pear, walnut and pomegran-ate saladFresh baked sour dough and ciabatta rolls

Method:

TIP:Place any remaining ham in a prepared ham bag and store in the refrigerator

until finished.

100minutes

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